Huge win for car owners! All TSBs to be made public.
The Center for Auto Safety just made the NHTSA (US Government) make public the full text of all TSBs from now on. They are the same organization that has petitioned the NHTSA & filed lawsuits to protect car owners over exploding gas tanks & other major safety issues.
Whenever you drive in your car, you are safer thanks in part to a lot of work over the years by this small but very effective consumer advocacy group.

NHTSA — Air Bags: Frontal Problems

CarComplaints.com Notes: It didn't take long for the cladding to fade, discolor, and in some cases crack. Cladding is the protective plastic piece that runs along the outside of vehicles, and exposure to both heat and UV rays give the Avalanche's cladding a chalky, faded appearance.

Owners have said the problem is especially bad on the panels near the cargo bed. Eventually, GM agreed to a one-time treatment of ArmorDillo, a protective treatment similar to what you find in any auto shop. Unfortunately, that would only help for 6 months (on average).

Eventually, GM offered another coating solution for owners within the 3 year / 36,000 mile original warranty under TSB:04-08-111-001C.

10.0

really awful

Crashes / Fires:

3 / 0

Injuries / Deaths:

4 / 0

Average Mileage:

29,667 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

Search for Car Problems

2005 Chevrolet Avalanche Owner Comments

Avalanche 4WD 8-cyl

Automatic transmission

57,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Swerved to avoid car that had crossed over, head-on, into lane. Went up onto side (grassy area which was wet from overnight rain). Hit tree head-on at approx. 20-26 mph. Air bags failed to deploy and seat belt mechanism failed to work. Injured shoulder from seat belt & hit head on visor/windshield. Car was flat-bedded to auto body shop. Airbag sensors were crushed in collision & seat belt mechanism was fully intact. There was about $15,000-20,000 worth of damage to the vehicle. Frame was bent (bark of tree stuck in frame). GM was notified and where not cooperative. Had to pay out-of-pocket to have truck flat bedded to a Chevy dealer where GM hired a 3rd party engineer. Truck was inspected & info was downloaded from black box. Black box info and damage to car do not coincide. What the black box fails to show is the increase in speed after vehicle hit wet grass. GM sent booklet stating that airbags should deploy between 8-14 mph in a head on collision. BBB was notified but because I have auto insurance, they would not work with me. State of ct requires all vehicles be insured.

Avalanche 4WD 8-cyl

Automatic transmission

14,000 miles

: the contact stated while driving 50 mph on wet roads, the vehicle collided with a roadside bank. Both frontal air bags failed to deploy, and the safety belt failed to keep the contact secure in the seat, causing the contact to be thrown over the steering wheel and strike the windshield. The contact incurred internal abdominal injuries as well as head lacerations. There was a police report taken. The vehicle was towed back to the residence, and had not been seen by a dealer.

Avalanche 4WD 8-cyl

Automatic transmission

18,000 miles

The contact's vehicle was involved in a crash. Upon impact neither of the front air bags deployed. The vehicle was pulling a trailer when the trailer hit a spot of ice. Then the vehicle went out of control and rolled over. A police report was taken at the scene. Both the driver and passenger sustained injuries. The manufacturer has not been contacted. Updated 2/7/2006 -

About CarComplaints.com

CarComplaints.com is an online automotive complaint resource that uses graphs to show automotive defect patterns, based on complaint data submitted by visitors to the site. The complaints are organized into groups with data published by vehicle, vehicle component, and specific problem.

What's wrong with YOUR car?™

"Autobeef", "What's Wrong With YOUR Car?" & "The Truth About Cars" are trademarks of Autobeef LLC, All rights reserved.

Add A Link

Links must be helpful to the general public & to a specific resource (like a forum thread), or they will be deleted when we review your link suggestion. Don't waste your time wasting ours! If you are interested in advertising a for-profit service, contact us.

URLPlease type the entire URL including the 'http://...'TitleDescriptionYour Email Address